Descriptive statistics
| Enrolment date | Total | |||
| Historical controls* | 6M before COVID-19† | COVID-19 era‡ | ||
| Sex, n (%) | ||||
| Male | 16 696 (47) | 2857 (46.9) | 825 (45.5) | 20 378 (46.9) |
| Female | 18 806 (53) | 3235 (53.1) | 987 (54.5) | 23 028 (53.1) |
| ‘Other’ or missing | 83 (0.2) | 17 (0.3) | 3 (0.2) | 103 (0.2) |
| Age (years), n (%) | ||||
| <35 | 5041 (14.2) | 750 (12.3) | 224 (12.3) | 6015 (13.8) |
| 35–54 | 13 818 (38.8) | 2205 (36.1) | 652 (35.9) | 16 675 (38.3) |
| 55+ | 16 709 (47) | 3150 (51.6) | 939 (51.7) | 20 798 (47.8) |
| Missing | 17 (0) | 4 (0.1) | 0 (0) | 21 (0.1) |
| Past week employment status, n (%) | ||||
| Not working | 14 244 (42) | 2415 (41.9) | 731 (45.9) | 17 390 (42.1) |
| Employed | 15 300 (45.1) | 2581 (44.8) | 512 (32.1) | 18 393 (44.6) |
| Employed but absent | 1362 (4) | 238 (4.1) | 162 (10.2) | 1762 (4.3) |
| Permanently unable to work | 3023 (8.9) | 525 (9.1) | 189 (11.9) | 3737 (9.1) |
| Missing | 1656 (4.7) | 350 (5.7) | 221 (12.2) | 2227 (5.1) |
| Education, n (%) | ||||
| <Secondary | 7897 (24) | 1251 (22.8) | 358 (24.1) | 9506 (23.9) |
| Secondary | 8790 (26.7) | 1475 (26.8) | 406 (27.4) | 10 671 (26.8) |
| Some postsecondary | 5596 (17) | 927 (16.9) | 217 (14.6) | 6740 (16.9) |
| Postsecondary | 10 582 (32.2) | 1842 (33.5) | 503 (33.9) | 12 927 (32.4) |
| Missing | 2720 (7.6) | 614 (10.1) | 331 (18.2) | 3665 (8.4) |
| Household income, n (%) | ||||
| <=$20 000 | 6158 (28.1) | 982 (28.6) | 259 (29.3) | 7399 (28.2) |
| $20 001–$60 000 | 8935 (40.8) | 1346 (39.2) | 364 (41.1) | 10 645 (40.6) |
| >$60 000 | 6811 (31.1) | 1108 (32.2) | 262 (29.6) | 8181 (31.2) |
| Missing | 13 681 (38.4) | 2673 (43.8) | 930 (51.2) | 17 284 (39.7) |
| Mental health diagnosis§, n (%) | ||||
| No | 17 581 (54) | 2838 (52.1) | 710 (45.5) | 21 129 (53.4) |
| Yes | 14 981 (46) | 2613 (47.9) | 850 (54.5) | 18 444 (46.6) |
| Missing | 3023 (8.5) | 658 (10.8) | 255 (14) | 3936 (9.1) |
| Physical health diagnosis¶, n (%) | ||||
| No | 18 443 (57.6) | 2952 (55) | 746 (49) | 22 141 (56.9) |
| Yes | 13 550 (42.4) | 2413 (45) | 778 (51) | 16 741 (43.1) |
| Missing | 3592 (10.1) | 744 (12.2) | 291 (16) | 4627 (10.6) |
| Substance use disorder diagnosis**, n (%) | ||||
| No | 29 998 (89.2) | 4968 (87.9) | 1344 (84.7) | 36 310 (88.9) |
| Yes | 3616 (10.8) | 685 (12.1) | 243 (15.3) | 4544 (11.1) |
| Missing | 1971 (5.5) | 456 (7.5) | 228 (12.6) | 2655 (6.1) |
| Previous lifetime quit attempts, n (%) | ||||
| None | 3203 (9.2) | 507 (8.4) | 127 (7.1) | 3837 (9) |
| 1–5 times | 21 884 (62.6%) | 3749 (62.4%) | 1095 (61.4%) | 26 728 (62.5%) |
| 6–10 times | 5464 (15.6) | 968 (16.1) | 323 (18.1) | 6755 (15.8) |
| 11 or more times | 4406 (12.6) | 783 (13) | 238 (13.3) | 5427 (12.7) |
| Missing | 628 (1.8) | 102 (1.7) | 32 (1.8) | 762 (1.8) |
| Quit date specified, n (%) | ||||
| No | 16 121 (45.3) | 2807 (45.9) | 927 (51.1) | 19 855 (45.6) |
| Yes | 19 464 (54.7) | 3302 (54.1) | 888 (48.9) | 23 654 (54.4) |
| Missing | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| First cigarette after waking, n (%) | ||||
| Within 5 min | 12 940 (36.6) | 2161 (35.6) | 678 (37.7) | 15 779 (36.5) |
| 6–30 min | 14 431 (40.8) | 2551 (42.1%) | 726 (40.3) | 17 708 (41) |
| 31–60 min | 4646 (13.1) | 760 (12.5) | 211 (11.7) | 5617 (13) |
| More than 60 min | 3329 (9.4) | 591 (9.7) | 185 (10.3) | 4105 (9.5) |
| Missing | 239 (0.7) | 46 (0.8) | 15 (0.8) | 300 (0.7) |
| Cigarettes per day, n (%) | ||||
| <10 | 4599 (13) | 864 (14.2) | 251 (13.8) | 5714 (13.1) |
| 10–19 | 13 001 (36.6) | 2205 (36.1) | 643 (35.4) | 15 849 (36.4) |
| 20 to 29 | 13 248 (37.3) | 2295 (37.6) | 658 (36.3) | 16 201 (37.2) |
| 30 to 39 | 2500 (7) | 379 (6.2) | 134 (7.4) | 3013 (6.9) |
| 40+ | 2157 (6.1) | 360 (5.9) | 129 (7.1) | 2732 (6.3) |
| Missing | 80 (0.2) | 6 (0.1) | 0 (0) | 86 (0.2) |
| Confidence in ability to quit | ||||
| Low (1-4) | 2771 (7.9) | 425 (7) | 130 (7.2) | 3326 (7.7) |
| Moderate (5-7) | 13 705 (38.9) | 2374 (39.3) | 681 (38) | 16 760 (38.9) |
| High (8-10) | 18 749 (53.2) | 3235 (53.6) | 983 (54.8) | 22 967 (53.4) |
| Missing | 360 (1) | 75 (1.2) | 21 (1.2) | 456 (1.1) |
| Importance of quitting | ||||
| Low (1-4) | 281 (0.8) | 51 (0.8) | 13 (0.7) | 345 (0.8) |
| Moderate (5-7) | 3352 (9.5) | 556 (9.2) | 145 (8.1) | 4053 (9.4) |
| High (8-10) | 31 699 (89.7) | 5451 (90) | 1642 (91.2) | 38 792 (89.8) |
| Missing | 253 (0.7) | 51 (0.8) | 15 (0.8) | 319 (0.7) |
*11 April 2016–16 September 2019.
†17 September 2019–16 March 2020.
‡17 March 2020–16 July 2020.
§Lifetime diagnosis of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.
¶Lifetime diagnosis of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
**Lifetime diagnosis of non-tobacco substance use disorder.
6M, 6 months.